Here's What Google Thinks: Five 'Next Practices' In Destination Marketing

I recently had the chance to participate in a full-day’s “Innovation & Inspiration” session at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View. I was a guest of Visit California, a high-performance marketing organization charged with promoting the state to domestic and international visitors.

Over the course of the day, some of Google’s smartest people shared their thoughts about what future destination marketing might look like. From my notes and a subsequent telephone interview with Jenny Thomassian, Google’s Head of Industry, Travel, five themes emerged that are especially relevant to destination marketing organizations across the globe:

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1. Welcome To A Mobile First World: As a 50+ year-old frequently squinting at the tiny type on my mobile phone, it was somewhat frightening to learn that over half of all Google searches are taking place on smartphones -- outpacing laptops, desktops and tablets combined. In the tourism space, Google saw a whopping 50% increase in travel-related searches on mobile devices in 2016. Traditionally, DMOs have built online content for a website first and then adapted that same content to a smartphone. The data suggests it's time to reverse that order.

2. Cater To Intent: Thomassian sees the travel purchase journey in three basic stages that might be summarized as "Dream," "Plan" and "Go." But the trick is to match the timing of specific marketing messages to the potential visitor’s stage in the process. “It's reaching the right person at the right time with the right message. It's really, really important for travel marketers to do this.” It's not a travel destination but Red Roof Inns is a excellent case in point. The hotel chain's marketing team identified a way to track flight delays and provide targeted, mobile ads to stranded travelers. The basic message was "Flight cancelled? Come stay with us."

3. Will Video Kill The Travel Writer?: The headline references the The Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” song which launched MTV back in 1981. Today, it is YouTube that reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any other network or cable provider. (Note: Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion). According to Thomassian, “We've seen travel videos that have become some of the most viewed content on YouTube. And we've seen interest in any travel-related video up about 60% in the last couple of years.” Forward-thinking destinations are partnering with YouTube creators like Nadine Sykora, Kristen Sarah and Louis Cole to tell their story.

4. Virtual Reality Will Be Huge: VR offers travelers a “vacation test drive” – the chance to experience a taste of a destination via a headset built by Sony, Oculus, Samsung or – you guessed it – Google. But surprisingly few destinations have successfully embraced the new technology. A September 2016 Skift article by Andrew Sheivachman examined the “10 Best Travel Experiences Right Now Using Virtual Reality” and none were credited to a destination marketing organization. “The next five years are going to be really interesting to see what catches hold,” according to Thomassian.

5. Be An Inventor (Rather Than A Marketer): My favorite presentation came at the end of the day from Mike Yapp, Director of The Zoo, Google’s in-house advertising agency. He made a convincing argument that technology advances now allow marketers to transform themselves into “inventors.” Lockheed Martin’s creation of the “Mars Experience Bus, ” a virtual-reality school bus that took a class of fifth-graders to the red planet was a prime example cited by Yapp. A lesser-known case (created by The Zoo for influencer marketing company Reelio) allowed travelers to create their own video travelogue via an app called “The Story of Us.” According to Yapp, “We are really becoming story doers not story tellers.”